Railway-car ventilator.



Patented Nov. 10, 1914.

lNl/ENTUR M 94- 1 WITNESSES:

THE NORRIS PETERS C0,. PHcToL/THQ, WASHING rON. D. c.

THEODORE DOUGLAS, OF SCARBORO, NEW YORK.

RAILWAY-CAR VENTILATOR.

Specification of Letters Patent.

i llpplication filed August 1a, 1912. S eriJa1No.714,851.

To all whom it may concern Be it known that I, THLIQOI'KJRE DOUGLAS, a citizen of the United States, and resident of Scarboro, county of lVestchester, State of New York, have made; a new and useful Invention in Railway-Car Ventilators, of which the following is a specification.

My invention is directed primarily to appliances adapted for use on railway cars to provide a uniform, and automatically controlled inflow of air into the car, and a corresponding flow of the used and vitiated air from the car through openings in its roof. My invention will be fully understoodby referring to the accompanying drawings, in which,

. Figure 1 is a cross section of a car showing the intake ventilators: in the floor of the car, andthe outlet ventilators in its roof, and the vanes for their automatic regula tion. Fig. 2 is a view, partly in section and partly in elevation, looking toward the side of the car as indicated by the arrow N;

. The yentilation ordinarily providedin a railway car consists of such change. of air as may result from leakage into the car through its various openings, and of the exit of the vitiated and heated air through bratticed, or window-like openings, in 1ts mon tor roof. This lnclosed air is 1n some cases stirred up and circulated by means of fans which do not'inany sense increase the quantity of air within the car, infii'lence its purity, nor do they tend to bring in a fresher air from its exterior.

In the present invention provision is made for the impelledentrance ofair into the car through openings in its floor,,such openings being preferably located beneath the seats be employed. This entrance is impelled by means of swinging scoops located trans versely below the car and under the floor openings. On the movement of the car, and as a result of that movement, the air is picked up by the scoops and forced upward through the openings, through a cleansing chamber, through the heater, through the bodyof the car, and through the outletventilators in. its roof. This feature of the location of the intake openings is particularly advisable in subway service as the air in the tunnel lying immediately above the floor is not only the coolest air in the tunnel, but

along the line: X, X,

Patented Nov. 10, 1914;

presumably the best, assuming that itYis freed from dust particles.

Referring now to the drawings in detail, j and first to Fig. 1, where a complete appln cation of the nvention 1s shown, A represents the floor, B the roof, and C, C the sides of a car. 1., 1 are swinging scoopslocated below the openings 2, 2 in the floor of the car. 3, 3 are perforated housings covering the openings, and st, l are roof ventilators.

A more detailed arrangement of the inlet parts is shown in Fig. 2, in which 1 and 1 are swinging scoops, 3 the opening in the. floor, 3 the housing above the opening in. the floor, 5, 5, 5 heating orcooling coils, 6 the coil support, 7 a screen immediately above the opening in the floor and consti tuting the bottomof the chamber 8, having as its walls and roof the coil-support 6. It is designed tohave this chamber 8 loosely} packed with mineral wool, or other suitable screening or filtering substance, to remove the dust from the ainbefore it enters the car. Provision is made for the removal of t the dirtywool and the insertion of fresh wool. through openings provided in the ends of thehousings 3, .3, see Fig. 1., as at 9, 9. 10, 1 0, 10 are springs working under such tension as to loosely hold the scoops 1 and 1 in. their normal position relative. to each other and to prevent their undue swinging and as a result of that movement, the air is picked up by the scoop l and forced upward through the opening 2, through the screen 7, through the chamber 8 loosely filled with mineral wool, around the heating or cooling coils 5, and out through the openings in the housing 3 as indicated by the small arrows. It circulates through the car, having a rising tendency, see Fig. 1, and finds exit through the ventilatorsi, 4:. As the volume of air forced into thecar by means of the scoop 1 would be in proportion to the speed of the car, theinflowing volume is regulated by an automatic movement of the scoop in gradually increasing and decreasing the area of the opening at the top of the scoop, as the speed of the car increases and decreases. As the speed of the car increases the pressure of the air upon the scoop will be such as to defleet it into some position between the two extreme positions shown at H and I. The greater the speed of the car the greater will be the degree of deflection and the smaller will be the opening at the top of the scoop through which the air must pass. The volume of the air entering the car would be proportionate to the car-speed were it not for this automatic regulation, through which the volume of air entering the car is made nearly constant for all speeds, and undue drafts are avoided.

To provide for a change of direction in the movement of the car, and in order that the device may operate in either direction, the scoops are placed in pairs, back to back, as shown in the drawing, and the scoops are held in their normal relation to each other and to the opening by means of springs of only sufiicient strength as to prevent undue swinging and noise. W'hen the direction of the car is reversed, the scoop 1 becomes active and operates in the same manner as described for 1, which ceases to operate.

Undue drafts are prevented by the housings 8, 3 and the screening devices within them, in which the air currents are broken up and theair cleansed. In the winter time the heating of" the incoming air may be provided for by locating the heating devices of the car within the housings as above described, or the cooling of the air may be so provided for.

The number of scoops provided for each car should be proportionate to its passenger capacity. v

I do not limit myself to the special application and the special details of construction shown as I believe it is broadly new with me to provide a combination of means designed to automatically compel an entrance into a railway car of air through openings in its floor, to maintain approximately constant the volume of infiowing air irrespective of the speed of the car, or its direction of motion, by meansof scoops located below its floor and designed to swing upon su norting bearings; to provide a means of cleansing the air and through a cleansing agent which may be quickly renewed. s

I do not limit mvself to the use of my invention on railway cars as the same mav be a plied to other moving vehicles, and in other ways. i

Having thus described my invention, what I claim and desire to secure by Letters Patent of the United States, is,

1. In combination with a moving vehicle, an intake ventilator consisting of a curved part, or scoop, supported therefrom and faced in the direction ofthe motion of the vehicle to pick up air and force it into the interior of the vehicle, means for holdingthe scoop in an open position, openings in the top of the scoop for the discharge of the intrained air into the interior of the vehicle and so supported as that when the vehicle is in motion, and as a result oftheimpact of the air upon the scoop, the scoop will be'deflected, and approximately proportionately to its deflection will close the discharge open ings from the scoop, for the regulation of the inflow of the air into the vehicle, 'substantially as described.

In combination with a movi vehicle,

an intake ventilator consisting o curvedparts, or scoops placed back to back, and supported there rom, stabilizing means between the scoops and their supp6rts, openings in the upper sides of the scoo fertile discharge of the air into the interior of the vehicle, and so supported as on thedofl'ection of the scoops to approximately proportionately. close these openings in proportion to the amount of the deflection of the scoops,

forthe regulation of the inflow of air, irrespective of the speed ofthe vehicle and of its direction of motion, substantially as described. i I

In testimony whereof I ailix my signature in presence of two witnesses. I 7

THEODORE DOUGLAS Witnesses: 1' i i H. L. BUTLER, i

GUS A. ELFAST.

Copies of this patent may be obtained for five cents each, by addressing the Commissioner (1! Patients.

Washington, D. G. 

